A Spider's Echo
by Nora West-Allen
Summary: In the school year following the events of FFH, barring that one scene that NEVER happened, Peter Parker meets a mysterious new vigilante on the streets of New York City. Then he meets the new transfer student who is relieved to discover that she's not the only Deaf student at Midtown. Turns out that less than prefect sound perception isn't the only thing they have in common.
1. Chapter 1

It was a random Tuesday in November the first time he saw her. She was in a neighborhood that he'd often swing by to make sure everything was on the up and up, bad part of town and all that. Things had been better in the recent months though and he hadn't know why until he saw her. She was a girl, probably young, taller than he was which was tall for a girl. That's all he knew though. He probably wouldn't have given her a second look if it weren't for the fact that she was wearing a sleeveless crop top in January in New York. He landed on a roof to make sure he was seeing her right. She had on black pants and combat boots and her arms were wrapped in something white and she had feathers sticking out the top. He couldn't see her face though, it was covered in a large hood and it was around eight o'clock at night so the shadows covered her face quite well. As she walked passed his position on the rooftop he noticed the silver fighting staff strapped to her back. It was this that finally made him drop down in front of her.

"Isn't it a little cold out for that getup?" He asked her as she jerked to a halt in front of him. She didn't respond, only turned her head away, keeping the hood covering her face.

"I can handle myself Spider-Man. And you don't need to keep a watch on this side of town. I've got it handled," the girl said.

"And who are you exactly?" the girl didn't move from her position or respond. He leaned more towards her but she backed away, finally looking at him. She was younger than he'd originally thought, she looked around his own age. He couldn't see much else of her face though, she had on a black mask that covered the entire top of her face with a white hand print painted on it that spilled onto the uncovered half. He could, however, see that she had black hair spilling out of a ponytail.

"Why hid under the hood if you have that getup?" he asked.

"Ever heard of being thurow?" she asked. "You can call me Echo. I've got this place handled but I'm trying to keep a low profile."

"I'm probably seem like the last person to be against this but I don't know if you've noticed but I have superpowers."

"What makes you think I don't?"

"Do you?"

"Maybe."

"So no."

"I didn't say that."

"So what can you do?"

"I'm a grade A badass. So you gonna call the cops on me or what?"

"I honestly don't think that will stop you but uh I'm still going to check up on the area.

"You wouldn't be Spider-Man if you didn't." And with that the girl, Echo, pushed passed him on the street. He was going to follow her, make sure she didn't do something stupid when he got a messsage from Ned telling him about some emergency across town and he'd taken off. The next day he'd told Ned and MJ about the girl and asked if they'd ever seen her before.

"I think I know her," MJ told him from where she sat on his bed. "She saved me once, I was volunteering at a homeless shelter across town and these guys tried to mug me, I went for my pepper spray but this girl dressed in black and feathers came out of nowhere and did a flying side kick into one of their faces. Didn't say anything, just beat them up then disappeared. Didn't even look at me."

"What! Why did you never say anything?" Peter asked.

"It was before we were dating and I was only 67% sure you were Spider-Man. It's not like it came up in conversation before now."

"So she really is a grade A badass," Ned added.

"Oh yeah, girl can fight," MJ said.

"I'm still going to keep an eye out for her, she might be able to fight but that doesn't make her Black Widow, she might be better off working with SHEILD than on her own."

"Black Widow worked for SHEILD," Ned said confused.

"My point is working with people with resources is helpful, my suit now is a lot better than my hoodie. I can actually talk to people!"

"Yes, you're a badass too SuperDeafy but did you ever think that this girl's fine on her own?" MJ asked.

"It couldn't hurt to ask her if I see her again."

"I suppose not," his girlfriend agreed.

"Okay, enough freaky ninja girl talk, this project is due tomorrow."


	2. Chapter 2

The next time he saw her it was a few weeks later. He hadn't been looking for her at the time, though that had become part of his daily routine. It was strange because it was outside of her regular neighborhood. Not by a lot but enough that you wouldn't expect the hooded vigilante to serve a beat down in the middle of the day. Peter's suit had alerted him of a commotion down the street and he swung in just in time to see a car, that had swerved from the road, with a broken windshield. The main event however, was Echo dragging some dude from the driver's seat and decking him.

"Whoa, what seems to be the problem here?" he asked, landing next to the girl.

"She just decided to beat the crap out of me!" the man yelled, looking towards the hero. At this movement, Echo changed her grip so that she slammed him to the ground, holding his hand behind his back. The hooded figure tilted her head towards Peter.

"Check the back of the car." she said. Spider-Man didn't hesitate to open up the back of the car to reveal three terrified women and a young girl.

"Are you four okay?" he asked. The one woman screamed something but it took a moment for the suit to run it through a translator as it wasn't English. Eventually, Peter pieced together what Echo had about the relationship between these women and the driver. He told Karen to notify the police and then helped the girls out of the car. The whole time, Echo stood holding the man. Peter webbed him to the ground.

"I put in a call to the cops and he's not getting out of that webbing," he said to her. "You can let go." She had turned to look at him upon seeing his movement but didn't otherwise respond for a moment. Peter put his hand on her shoulder and she immediately released the man and stepped back.

"Thank you," she said. Then she turned to the women and said something quietly in their language that the suit couldn't pick up. One of them hugged her. When she stepped away she made to leave but Peter grabbed her arm and she turned towards him.

"You don't have to do this on your own, you know. I know people you can work with."

"Thanks, but trust me Spidey, it's better people don't know how I do what I do. Especially the cops who I'm guessing will be here soon and won't be my biggest fan." With that, she gave a two finger salute as she walked backwards away from him and then darted down an alleyway. He could have chased her but his suit told him the cops were almost there so he left a note and did a quick wave to the onlookers before swinging away. The video of the altercation made its way to the internet, as many of his do, but there was a surprisingly low level of interest in the mystery girl. Most were just calling her a bystander that sprung into action. That was mostly because she wasn't wearing her full outfit that timer. She still had the hood and the mask on but the rest of her outfit was simple workout attire, yoga pants and a tank top and all that. He was guessing that this little intervention hadn't been planned. The white hand print had also been missing from the mask this time.

"Dude, you stopped a human trafficker?" Ned asked over sushi with May and MJ. They stayed in the apartment, which was probably a good thing since Ned may have blurted that out at a restaurant as well.

"It seemed to me that Echo stopped him," MJ countered.

"Credit where credit is due," Peter said. "But yeah, I'm glad she was there."  
"I saw you talk to her on the video, she say anything?" May asked.

"She basically said that the world wasn't ready for someone like her, whatever that means."

"I mean, the world isn't exactly ready for you is it?" MJ asked.

"I'm hardly the first superhero in New York."

"Yeah, but you're the only Deaf Avenger. Do you really think New York would look at you the same if they knew that?" Peter didn't have to think about it to know the answer.

"Yeah, not sure they'd ever put their trust in me again, no matter how competent I am."

"To be fair, there was that rumor a while back that Hawkeye was Deaf and people were all for that," May interjected.

"Yeah, I remember that let down well." Peter grumbled.

"It would have been really cool though," Ned said.

"The point is, People knowing that Peter is Deaf would change the way they looked at him as a hero, for better or for worse. Same thing for Daredevil. People know these perceived weaknesses it upsets the status quo," MJ explained.

"So whatever Echo can do and however she can do it, it's something we've never seen before, that could freak people out for one reason or another."

"Maybe she's an alien?" Ned asked.

"We actually don't have an alien hero yet do we?" May asked.

"Not one that Earth knows about," Peter clarified. "You know. Probably."

"I'm thinking she's not an alien Ned," MJ said. "Wait, what's the sign for alien?"

"Just fingerspell it usually," Peter explained.

"Someone really need to come up with a sign for that, especially in New York," she commented.

"I've seen people sign 'OUTER-SPACE PERSON' but I usually just name the specific species or creature or something," Peter explained.

"Sign language is weird," Ned said.

"At least my language can accurately describe emotions," Peter shot back.

"Well, our language is can successfully pull off a plot twist so ha," Ned responded.

"Well, whatever language you speak, you're both still losers," MJ commented, putting emphasis on the sign for LOSE. The next few minutes were spent trying to come up with the most creative insult in both languages. MJ's English entry was downright Shakespearean and Peter's didn't quite have an English translation that held quite the same sting. May just watched on laughing while Ned tried to stutter out a rebuttal. It was a good night.


	3. Chapter 3

The third time he saw her it was actually her who saw him. It was Christmas Eve, Peter was doing one last patrol before the holiday. He didn't really expect to see her with the weather, given her choice of outfits, but did keep an eye out as he swung through her neighborhood. It wasn't there that she found him though. It was a few blocks away, not quite the nicer part of town but more of the type of street you expect to be bustling at peak business hours. There were only a few people walking on the streets below at this hour, though, as all of the shops had closed their doors early for Christmas. The few passersby were using the passage as a way home more likely than anything else. It was a strangely empty street for New York City, even for this time of year. Peter figured MJ would say it was peaceful. Quiet. Everything was quiet to peter even with his hearing aids though so that didn't really mean much to him. It did look quiet though. Because quiet does have a look, where everything is soft and standing still.

"Beautiful isn't it?" a voice to his right asked. He heard the buzz of a sound coming from his hearing aids but it was the suit which informed him of the contents. Peter turned his head to see Echo. She was wearing a long jacket over her usual uniform and her hood was pulled up yet again.

"Since when do you cover up?" he asked.

"Ninjas get cold too," she said simply, and sat down next to him, her feet hanging off the ledge.

"So your a ninja now?" Peter asked.

"I fit the definition," she quipped.

"Why aren't you home? It's Christmas Eve."

"Why aren't you?"

"I was doing a last run, you're a little far from your street."

"Maybe I needed a break."

"From what?"

"Everything."

"Everything is a lot sometimes."

"Something tells me you know that from experience."

"Not that prancing around in spandex isn't fun but yeah, I have my reasons. We all have a tragic backstory nowadays huh?" Echo doesn't say anything. They just sit in the light of the neon sign on the building across from them for a few moments.

"Go home to your family Spidey. I'll watch the city tonight."

"What makes you think I have a family."

"Because you still believe in people. Even when they don't deserve it." Peter didn't need to ask why she wasn't with her family, that was answer enough.

"Everyone deserves it. There's good in everybody if you look hard enough."

"My eyesight is better than most Spidey, I find that hard to believe."

"Why do you think you don't deserve it?"

"Who says I think that?"

"It was implied."

"Sometimes it's what people don't say that speaks the loudest, and sometimes it's what they do. I have reasons for why I do what I do, they started out far less noble than yours I'm sure."

"You say that like they've changed."

"In a sense I suppose. I've certainly begun to look at the world in a different way since meeting you."

"We've only met three times by my count. I'm really that inspirational?"

"I see the good you do Spidey. I wanted to be more than what people were trying to make me be. I tend to follow the lead of other...then do it better."

"Well, you've certainly got the confidence to do so."

"And you've got a family to go home to. It's almost midnight. Go home. I'll be fine."

"You sure?"

"Wouldn't have said it if I wasn't. I'm a very literal person. I don't do well with vagueness and half truths."

"Didn't say anything about lies though."

"People lie, I'm not one of them. The truth may hurt but it's better than a fallacy."

"You sound like a friend of mine."

"She a badass too?"

"How'd you know it's a she?"

"I didn't but I hoped. Tell her Merry Christmas for me,"

"I just might," Peter said and with that, he swung back to his apartment building and passed out just before midnight.

Peter woke up the next morning to the smell of cinnamon rolls in the oven and a Christmas text from his girlfriend.

MJ: Merry Christmas! I'm going to try and see if I can sneak away later to give you your gift but us Jones's don't mess around with Christmas so we'll see.

Peter: Good luck with the mega family time. Echo says Merry Christmas.

He went to put his phone down but got a response right away.

MJ: You talked to her again?

Peter: Found me last night. Talked a little bit. She implied her tragic backstory. Got really philosophical. Reminds me a little of you.

MJ: Don't you start dating her too. I'm literally learning a language for you.

Peter: Don't you have the Jones Family Christmas to get to?

MJ: I'm hiding in the bathroom.

Peter: Classy. Definitely not like Echo.

MJ: *Blow kiss emoji*

Peter chuckled and put his phone away before going out to meet may just as she was pulling the cinnamon rolls out of the oven.

"Those are store bought right?" he asked.

"Well, they're not on fire so yeah," May responded. "Merry Christmas Sweetie!" She gave him a hug. This hug felt just like any other hug except that Peter hugged her just a little tighter than normal. Peter had lost so many people, but he didn't lose all of them.


	4. Chapter 4

Hearing people suck. It's Peter's mantra when the world is pissing him off. Not MJ and Ned though, they don't count, they know their shit. They are the non suckish hearing people that would agree with him that hearing people suck. Today they suck because Principal Morita had this whole, diversity movement thing going on. It was actually working out great, this wasn't like some token POC type of thing, Midtown was actually a pretty diverse school just because people were smart. The problem was that Principal Morita asked Peter to show around the new kid. Peter had never been asked to show around anyone before, not because he was Deaf, because he could voice just fine, didn't even have much of an accent because he didn't lose his hearing until he was four years old in the accident that killed his parents so he had some vocal understanding already. Still, Peter was happy to show around the new girl, until he saw her. She was turned, talking to someone, maybe a parent, and Peter could see clear as day the hearing aid behind her ear. Peter would have actually volunteered to show her around if he'd known, it just pissed him off a little that Principal Morita saw her and went, "Oh! Let's have the two Deaf kids meet and be friends! They already have so much in common!" He wondered if they had a similar schedule too because of his interpreters. It wouldn't surprise him, the school had more money than most given it's status but they had to save money in some places, might as well make the Deaf kids a twofer.

Despite his annoyance, Peter knew that the girl still needed someone to show her around so he walked up to her. The woman she was talking too noticed him and the girl turned her head towards him after a moment and smiled.

"Hi, I'm Maya, are you Peter?" she said, putting her hand out. He shook it.

"I'm Peter yeah. Sorry, did you say Maya? Is that right?" he responded in PSE and voicing as he didn't know if she even used sign. Her face lit up.

"You know sign?" she asked again in English.

"Yeah, they didn't tell you?" Peter asked confused. Before he could get a response, the woman next to Maya placed her hand on her shoulder and pointed out the door and did the sign for time. Maya nodded and waved goodbye.

"Is that your mother?" Peter asked when Maya turned back to him. She laughed.

"She's my foster mom, she's nice I guess but not really my mom," she responded, this time in Sign. Peter nodded, of course he understood, he'd gotten lucky with May and Ben, they'd never officially adopted him or anything and even now he knew May wasn't his mother, it just didn't feel right to call her that. She was Aunt May.

"I get that," he answered truthfully. She squinted her eyes at him.

"Do you have a Deaf family member or something? Your signing is really good," she asked. Peter stared at her for a second, confused, then realized that he's had his hood up, she couldn't see his hearing aids. He quickly flipped it down and showed her.

"Sorry, I thought they would have mentioned that part when they said I'd be showing you around."

"Okay, well that makes a lot of sense. Gotta put the Deaffies together right?"

Peter laughed and answered with a sign that doesn't quite translate to English, loose interpretation in this case was "Right?!".

"What's your schedule look like?" she asked. Peter handed over the schedule he'd been given that morning for the new term. Maya compared it to hers.

"Ooooh, copy paste," she said but it was much more sarcastic in ASL.

"At least we actually get interpreters here I guess," he said.

"Okay, but next year, we need to pick as many different classes as we can on purpose, see what they do about it then." Peter gave her a high five.

"We only have a few minutes before class starts, I can help you find your locker and stuff." She shrugged and motioned for him to proceed. Her locker ended up being right next to MJ's who was already there and kissed him as he approached.

"Either this is your girlfriend or people around here are just really friendly," Maya joked.

"Girlfriend," MJ signed, casting a confused glance at Peter. He explained who she was and how he ended up showing her around. "Ah, right, hearing people suck. Nice to meet you, I'm MJ." She signed before following up with her name sign. Maya smiled and introduced herself before opening her locker and dumping her back inside. Just as she closed the door Peter heard the faint buzzing of the bell and MJ followed up by signing ALARM. Peter motioned for Maya to follow him as he and MJ had different classes, he was however, in the same class as Ned this period. When he got to the room Ned was already in his spot at the front of the class next to where Peter had to sit to see the interpreters, he motioned for him to scoot down two seats and told Maya she could sit where Ned had been if she wanted, if not some seats in the second row would also work. Peter popped down next to Ned and Maya opted to sit next to him.

"Who's that?" Ned asked.

"I'm Maya," she said. "New transfer. Deaf. Hispanic. Native. Orphan. Basically, I got all the scholarships." Ned laughed.

"You and MJ will get along," he said.

"They already met actually," Peter said.

"She does seem like my type of girl," Maya offered as the teacher entered the class. After that the conversation died down because they teacher had begun class. She introduced Maya to everyone who immediately began voicing her introduction. Ned looked startled next to him but didn;t say anything. After class Ned said he was surprised because her voicing was really good, even better than Peter's who's own Deaf accent really just sounded like he occasionally had a lisp. Peter just shrugged.

The next few classes passed until lunch and Peter had to admit that he and Maya did get along really well even if they had most likely only been paired up because they were both Deaf...actually they were both orphans too so bonus points. He asked if she wanted to sit with them at lunch and she agreed because she "hadn't really had much of a chance to meet anyone else yet,".

"That's how MJ started sitting with us," Ned said, sitting down next to Maya.

"I just saw my name, what are you telling her?" MJ asked, sitting next to her boyfriend.

"Nothing," he said in both languages as MJ scared him down.

"Okay, I definitely like her now," Maya said.

"Oh we're doomed aren't we?" Ned asked.

"When you two take over the world, don't forget the little people," Peter added. Maya and MJ high fived.

The rest of the day was uneventful, even for Spider-Man, there weren't usually super big emergencies during school time so he tried his best not to leave during school hours. Especially today since Maya had been with him the entire time and since MJ had figured it out he wouldn't put it past Maya to piece things together too. He didn't exactly know her well enough for that yet. One thing was that when Flash came to mess with him that day, which he always said had nothing to do with his deafness, he would mess with him whether or not he could hear, Maya decided that she was having none of it and twisted his hand behind his back until he apologized. It was something Peter had wished he could do for a long time. Apparently, Maya liked to work out and takes self defense classes. Luckily the whole thing was over before any teachers noticed. Peter didn't want her to get in trouble on her first day because of him. They exchanged numbers before they left school and Ned and MJ told him to pass theirs along too. It was a good day capped with a Spidey patrol on which he once again searched for Echo but found nothing. He never really got to thank her for their talk that night. She would probably think that was weird though so maybe it was for the best.


	5. Chapter 5

Maya hung out with Peter and his friends for the rest of the week and the next, getting to know each other better. Ned asked her if she had made any other friends and she kind of just shrugged and changed the topic. It was odd because she seemed like the type of person who could make friends easily if she tried. Plus, her lip reading was almost inhuman, she had said that she didn't learn how to sign until later in life so she had to rely on it a lot more but still, impressive. Point was that she didn't have much trouble with communication which was usually the biggest issue in Deaf/hearing friendships. At least at first.

So, knowing all of that, Peter figured that she was a lot more like MJ than he initially thought, not super trusting of people and likes to keep to herself. MJ didn't really talk to anyone outside of Peter and Ned, though she and Maya had been getting closer lately. Before they. Had started dating MJ wasn't really close with anyone. Maybe Maya hadn't had a lot of luck with getting close to people either. He didn't plan on saying anything about it to her, it was her choice who she wanted to be friends with. He did want to ask her to join Academic Decathlon because all of his friends were on it with him but when he tried to find a time to hang out outside of school, she said she was booked the whole week. Didn't seem like she had a lot of time on her hands.

He was about to ask her anyway, when she sat down at lunch Friday of that second week, when he got a message from Happy. It was a link to a news website. He clicked it and it brought him to a live broadcast in Echo's neighborhood where a bomb had reportedly gone off. He saw MJ leaned closer out of the corner of his eye to watch. He assume she said something because Ned leaned in too. A moment later both of their heads jerked up and Peter looked up to see a look of horror on Maya's face before she ran out of the lunch room. Peter launched over the table after her, leaving MJ and Ned to explain their speedy exit. He caught her when she was almost to the front doors and grabbed her arm.

"Let go of me!" , she signed with her free arm.

"What's going on? Are you okay?" He asked her.

"I have to go Peter!" Maya said. "I have to help!"

"Help who? The people on the news? Maya I think it's too late for that." Peter hated having to say that, of course he wanted to help, he was going to help in any way he could but he couldn't let Maya go running down there and getting herself hurt too.

"No, I know those people. That's my neighborhood!" Peter felt his heart sink.

"I'm sure Echo will be there soon, she works that area right?" Maya froze.

"How do you know about Echo?" she asked confused.

"She saved MJ once so I did some research," he explained. "Look, I'm so sorry for what happened but there is nothing you can do. The reported said that it was only a small explosion in an abandoned building. Hopefully there weren't many people near by."

"That building wasn't scheduled to be taken down for another few weeks at least. No one cleared the area, someone did this on purpose."

"And you think you're going to find out who?"

"It certainly won't be the police. Who cares what happens to there slums of New York? So someone blew up a building, it needed to go down anyway, make room for a fancy new hotel."

"Maya, I get it. I really do. I mean, you've met my girlfriend right? But this is dangerous to just throw yourself into something like this."

"I can take care of myself Peter, and I have to take care of them." There was something in her eyes in that moment, a look of determination so fierce that Peter let go of her arm, almost as if in a trance. Her eyes softened for a moment when she did so, then he nodded at him and ran out the door. Peter quickly pulled out his phone and told Ned, MJ and Happy what just happened and that Spidey was going to make sure everyone was okay.

When he swung into view there were cops already in the area and there were groups of people yelling at the officers. Peter landed inside the police barricade and asked the nearest officer what had happened.

"Spider-Man, this isn't usually your scene, don't you usually show up before the bad stuff happened?" he asked.

"I wish I had been this time, I just wanted to make sure everyone was okay."

"This building was scheduled to come down earlier this week but the date got pushed back. Looks like someone forgot to clean up properly and some squatters set it off."

"Someone forgot to put away explosives and left them out in such a way that it was set off accidentally?" He said led in disbelief.

"That's what it looks like, total accident. Sucks too. The people inside all died, three of them. A passerby was crushed by rubble and didn't make it, two more are at the hospital. One of 'em was a twelve year old kid."

"Thank you officer," he said when something caught his eye. He swung out of the wreckage and onto a roof a few buildings down, just inside the police tape. "I'm sorry," he said as he landed.

"Did they tell you anything?" Echo asked, turning to look at him, her voice hollow.

"Four dead, three homeless, one passerby. Two went to the hospital, one is only twelve."

"They say how it happened."

"They claim it was an accident, someone left behind explosive materials that one of the people inside set off on accident."

"You don't believe that do you?"

"I've seen some pretty reckless shit but even if they did leave behind explosives it's very unlikely they were set off on accident."

"It was Kingpin."

"Who?"

"A man I used to call my father. He wants to rebuild New York in his image, under his power and rule. The building was supposed to go down earlier this week but something went wrong with the permits and it got pushed back. Threw off his timeline."

"You don't know it was him."

"Everything is. Around here at least. He keeps buying buildings in the area, at first he was offering people money to move out of here but sometimes people don't want to go and that's when he starts to play dirty. That building that just blew up us going to be a hotel, there's a place down the block that he is trying to turn into a strip mall. He has been trying to buy out the businesses on this street, after this a lot of them may not have a choice but to sell."

"I didn't know."

"No one does, outside of here anyway, they all think he is the hero, buying businesses for more than they are worth, turning this side of the city into a place where people actually want to go. No one thinks about how the people who live here are affected by all of this."

"I'll bring this up to SHEILD, maybe they can help."

"You can try but they won't care. Even if they do there isn't much they can do. He's too good, he's three steps removed from every nasty dealing in this town. He's a crime lord but the city sees him as a savior. You can't touch him."

"Is that why you became Echo?"

"What do you mean?"

"You said he you used to call him your father. Did you find out what he did? Is this you trying to make up for it?"

"That's the thing, I always know what he did. I just used to see things from the same diluted point of view. I've done things Spidey, things I'm not proud of."

"You're doing the right thing now.

"Not sure it will ever be enough."

"What made you change your mind? About Kingpin I mean."

"He told me you were the bad guy. Then one day you saved the life of my little brother. I figured anyone who could do that couldn't be all bad. The I started questioning everything. If he could be wrong about that, what else could he be wrong about? I owe you my life Spidey."

"You don't owe me anything. You were the one who got yourself out. Who realized the truth. You're the one who wants to make things right."

"Maybe but wanting to do something isn't doing it. Today I failed my city."

"You can't always know everything and be everywhere. Trust me, I know. It's hard to accept but you have to keep on trying. Have to have people that you can trust to help you through the hard days. You don't win them all but if you don't try you can't ever win."

"I don't exactly have many people in my life that I can trust. No after...well you know."

"You can trust me."

"Maybe one day." Peter didn't push, he supposed that would have to be good enough for now.

"I hope so. If you need me I'll be around. Or you can just call the AVENGERS tip line, tell them it's Echo. I'll have them let it through."

"Thank you Spider-Man." Echo nodded and Peter returned the gesture.

"See you around Echo." Then he swung back towards Midtown. He would talk with Happy about Kingpin after class but there was nothing he could do about it right now. He needed more information. So for now he would have to focus on hoping that he hadn't missed too much of fifth period.


	6. Chapter 6

"Kingpin?" Ned asked as Peter explained what he'd learned at the bomb site that day.

"That's what she said," Peter responded.

"She didn't give you an actual person name?" MJ asked. He shook his head.

"Okay, you should talk to SHIELD about this Peter, let them handle it," May told him.

"What's there to tell them?" he asked. "That some vigilante I don't know the identity of, that I didn't tell them about, told me that some guy I can't even prove exists and whom I've never seen, blew up a condemned building because he's some kind of...business tyrant?"

"I missed half of that but I think you shouldn't tell them anyway," MJ said, hand raised.

"Did I forget to voice again?"

"No honey, your voice gets muddled the faster you talk," May corrected.

"Sorry, but my point is I can't tell SHIELD what I know because I don't know anything."

"I just think you shouldn't tell them because it's not their business, this is a conspiracy, the last thing we want to do is involve the government," MJ clarified. "Let Echo handle it, she knows what she's doing."

"Not that I don't trust her but from our conversation she doesn't seem to trust herself and she doesn't exactly seem like the type of person to ask for help," Peter argued.

"Maybe not but she's obviously willing to talk to you," Ned responded, "If anyone can get through to her it's you, but only if you do things her way." There was a pause followed by MJ slowly poking Ned in the face. He batted her hand away and furrowed his eyebrows at her.

"Feels like Ned," she said.

"Ned, I think MJ is rubbing off on you," Peter said. "But maybe you're right."

"I also agree that the NedBot is correct," MJ interjected. Three pair of eyes moved to look at May. She sighed.

"Okay, you have a point but I don't want you to get hurt because of this Peter," she said. "Just promise me you will be safe and tell Happy or Nick Furry or someone if it gets to be too much."

"I promise," he breathed and then gave her a hug.

"Okay, good, that's settled, who wants dinner?"

"Uh, I have to-"

"I really should-"

"Maybe next-"

"It's leftover takeout," May rolled her eyes.

"Sounds good!"

"Count me in!"

"I'll have some!"

Peter tried to put things out of his mind for the next few days. Maya had never come back to school the day of the bombing. The next day they had exchanged a look and didn't talk about it further. That trend continued as everyone tried to pretend things were normal. As Spider-Man, Peter continued regular patrols, keeping an extra close eye on Echo's side of town but otherwise unchanged. He wanted to talk to Echo again but he hadn't seen any sign of her. He couldn't ask if anyone had seen her without acknowledging that she existed and he didn't think she would want that spotlight on her.

"Still no luck?" MJ asked as Peter slid in through her window after patrol one night, looking dejected.

"No, but I guess that could be a good thing, no major Echo sightings means no major Kingpin attacks,". MJ grabbed his hand and pulled him to sit next to her on the bed, leaning into him.

"You'll find her Peter," she whispered, not expecting him to hear. "You'll put a stop to this."

He predictably said nothing but MJ could see that his head was elsewhere. MJ reached out and turned his head towards her before pulling away to sign.

"Peter, I get that this is a hard situation for you but you can't let it control you," she said. "I'm hardly the person to tell you to not bottle up your emotions but I know that's exactly what Aunt May would say if she could see how much this was troubling you."

"I know, you're right," he sighed. "I just- It's hard knowing something is wrong but not being able to do anything about it."

"You are not responsible for the world's pain."

"All it takes is one person to win a war MJ, I'd rather be a soldier on the side of good."

"But not fighting doesn't automatically put you on the side of evil, it just means you can't win every battle." Peter didn't say anything.

"Is this about Beck? Tony? Peter, none of that was your fault, you know that."

"Of course I know that!" he snapped, standing up from the bed. "That's all anyone keeps telling me."

"Sorry for supporting you," MJ glared.

"MJ I- That's not what I meant," Peter said, his outburst fading from his face.

"I know what you meant Peter," she responded, stepping closer to him again. "You've come a long way since London, you're your own hero now, you don't need us to keep telling you that, but something is bothering you, and it's not just the unknown of it all." Peter looked at her.

"I'm not doubting my abilities as a hero MJ, or as the future leader of the Avengers. I've accepted my place, my way," he told her, eyes piercing. "What I haven't accepted is that there's someone out there just as lost as I used to be that I can't help. I don't know where I would be today if it weren't for the people in my life, people who she doesn't have. I just- I want to help her MJ."

"You can't help someone who doesn't want your help," MJ said. "That being said, she's obviously been willing to talk to you in the past. I can't see any reason why she won't in the future. Like Ned said, if there's anyone who can get through to her it's you. You can be her Tony Stark, her Uncle Ben. You can be the person who believes in her, like I believe in you."

"I thought you weren't good with emotions?" he asked, smiling.

"I'm not," she said.

"Then I guess I'm starting to rub off on you," he said, pulling her in for a kiss. "Thank you."

"Cool. Yeah, maybe next time you do the emotional stuff?"

"Deal," he kissed her again. Longer this time. A vibration from his phone tore him away from her.

"May, she wants me home," he told her.

"Best not to worry her, besides, if my parents walked in and saw me making out with Spider-Man in my bedroom we would have bigger problems than a missed curfew."

"See you at school?"

"Go Spider-Man, keep your aunt from killing you." He smiled, pulled his mask back on and ducked out of the window.


End file.
